1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to stringed instruments; particularly to bridges for stringed instruments; and even more particularly to bridge saddles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Creators of musical instruments are continually attempting to improve the acoustic qualities of the instruments to obtain "richer" and "fuller" sounds. With stringed instruments, emphasis has been primarily placed on the characteristics of the strings; the resonator or soundboard and pickups for electric guitars. Bridges, used to maintain strings in place above the soundboard, have been made adjustable, as shown by T. J. McHugh et al, U.S. Pat. No. 1,365,839, and though generally constructed of wood, steel, or plastic, have included saddles constructed of ceramics to provide long life and improve tonal clarity, as shown by T. S. Eizonas, U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,784. Also, it has been found that bridge pins, used to secure the ends of strings to the bridge, when constructed of heavy metal, such as brass, increase the presence and sustain of the instrument, as shown by M. R. Holman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,779. All known bridge saddles are composed of a single material such as wood, metal, ceramic, and the like.
The inventor of the present invention has found that by constructing the bridge saddle of at least two distinct, adjacent, and homogeneous units of differing materials, each in contact with a respective string of the instrument, that the string-saddle combination produces a special timbre and that by using such differing materials with separate strings of the instrument one can produce a rich blend of sounds to make each stringed instrument unique in its sound characteristics. For example, a B-string contacting a saddle constructed of adjacent units of steel and brass will have a noticeably different timbre than the same B-string contacting a saddle constructed of elm wood and ceramic. Even saddles composed of two distinct types of wood, such as oak and ash, will produce a different timbre than beech and maple, for example. While the production of sound of differing timbre in stringed instruments is complex, it is known that materials of differing densities conduct sound at varying velocities and it may be that this characteristic is of vital importance in the saddle's interaction with the strings.